Wylie signs pro contract with Baltimore Ravens

Fred Kelly, fred.kelly@mdn.net

Updated
9:39 am EDT, Tuesday, May 2, 2017

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From an early age, Hemlock’s Andrew Wylie knew he wanted to play football for a living. He took a big step toward realizing that dream recently when he signed a contract as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Ravens of the NFL.

“This has been a huge lifelong goal of mine. I’ve always wanted to make my passion (for football) into a job,” said Wylie, 22, a 6-foot-5 1/2, 310-pound offensive lineman who started on Midland High’s line for three years after transferring from Hemlock before going on to star at Eastern Michigan University.

“In my true freshman year at Eastern Michigan, when I started all 12 games, I kind of realized that this was for me,” he added of his dream of being a professional football player. “I was competing at a high level at a young age, and it was then that I kind of realized that I wanted to make this a job. To see it come to fruition is a huge deal for me. I couldn’t be more happy.”

After three years of grinding on a stellar Midland offensive line which included Notre Dame-bound Steven Elmer and Michigan Tech-bound Joe Vieau, Wylie went on to start 45 games for EMU, which ranks fourth all-time in Eagles’ history. As a redshirt-senior this past season, Wylie started all 13 games at right tackle for Eastern, earned Third Team All-Mid American Conference honors, and helped the Eagles engineer one of the biggest turnarounds in Football Bowl Subdivision history.

From Wylie’s junior season to his senior campaign, Eastern improved from a one-win team in 2015 to a 7-5 record and a berth in the Bahamas Bowl — the Eagles’ first bowl bid in 30 years — in 2016.

“Me and the whole senior class take a lot of pride in (that turnaround). It took so much work by all of us over four years to get there,” he noted. “To finally break through that barrier and be 7-5 and go to a bowl game, especially the Popeyes Bahamas Bowl, was an absolutely amazing experience. It truly was just great to have that breakthrough season, and, hopefully, they can maintain that (level of success) at Eastern. I have no doubt that they will.”

As an offense, EMU ranked 35th in the FBS in total offense (455.2 yards per game), and the Eagles shattered a school record with nearly 6,000 yards of total offense, nearly 1,000 yards better than the previous single-season record of 5,010.

And although Wylie wasn’t selected during the NFL Draft, he wowed coaches and scouts during Eastern’s recent Pro Day, at which about 20 NFL teams were represented. According to EMU’s website, Wylie’s 34-inch vertical jump at Pro Day would’ve ranked first among offensive lineman at the NFL Combine by a full two inches, while his 9-foot-7 broad jump would’ve tied for first, and his 4.5-second 20-yard shuttle run would’ve ranked second.

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Wylie signs pro contract with Baltimore Ravens

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“Before Pro Day, I was kind of floating around at the free agent level, and then at our Pro Day we had a fantastic turnout (by NFL coaches and scouts),” Wylie noted. “A lot of teams started watching more of my (game) film (highlights) after that, which helped my cause. ... (Pro Day) was one of the most fun days of my life. All of the training (I’d been putting in) showed up on that day, and it was just a good time.”

Ironically, the Ravens were not one of the NFL teams which were represented at EMU’s Pro Day, but that didn’t stop the team from making Wylie an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“The Ravens’ O-line coach (Joe D’Alessandris) had personally watched my film from the past two seasons, and I had been in contact with him for a week or two, along with some other O-line coaches and scouts (prior to Pro Day),” Wylie said. “ ... He (D’Alessandris) had said, ‘If you fall through in the draft, if you don’t get picked, we’d love to have you.’ And I knew Baltimore would be good for me.

“I had a few other offers to choose from, but their (lack of) depth on the O-line and their system made it the best fit for me.

“ ... It kind of comes down to a gut feeling,” he added. “I just have a good feeling about the whole situation in Baltimore.”

Wylie, who signed with the Ravens only minutes after the draft concluded, said that inking his first pro contract was an “intense” moment.

“When they said I’d (just) become a Baltimore Raven, it just hit me,” he recalled. “I told my family right away, and they’ve been my biggest support system, and they were so excited for me. It was just a fantastic experience.”

The next step for Wylie is a trip to Baltimore for a four-day rookie mini-camp this Thursday through Sunday, during which he hopes to prove he belongs on an NFL roster.

“I want to let them (the coaches) know that I’m there to make the active roster. Being a (rookie) free agent, I already have a chip on my shoulder, but I’ve always been an underdog,” he said of his goals for the mini-camp. “I’m going out there to make an impression on the coaches and do everything I can to make that active roster.”

Following the mini-camp, Wylie will return home for a few weeks before returning for the team’s full camp in late May. And although he wouldn’t balk at the opportunity to be a member of the Ravens’ practice squad, he admitted that he won’t be totally satisfied until he becomes a full-fledged NFL player.

“It’s always been my No. 1 goal to make a 53-man roster. I’ve done everything I possibly can to make that happen,” he noted. “Anything less than that isn’t necessarily a disappointment, but I won’t have reached my goal until I make that active roster.”

Wylie said he is feeling good physically heading into the mini-camp — much better, certainly, than he did a few years ago when he was diagnosed with a condition called hyperthyroidism, an ailment which is characterized by an overactive thyroid gland wreaking havoc on a person’s metabolism. Wylie first began experiencing issues at the start of his senior season at Midland, and by the end of that season he had lost 85 pounds before getting his condition under control.

Now, after having had his thyroid gland removed, Wylie takes daily medication to regulate his metabolism, and he said he’s good to go.

With that said, he added that he still wants to get “bigger and stronger and also faster” before the Ravens’ full camp gets underway.

“I would like to add about 10 pounds, maybe get up to 320, but I still want to be able to move fast,” he said. “And I’ve got to keep maintaining and growing my strength. That can’t level off. That’s got to continue to grow.”

Wylie is the only son of Scott and Deb Wylie of Hemlock. His sister, Allie, is a former basketball player at Hemlock High school, Midland High School, and Northwood University.